New Blog: Angry Twins

Yep, when Fr. Sibley says that these twins are angry, he wasn't kidding. Not just the twins but their friends too, it seems. But why shouldn't they be? I'm not saying that they should be abrasive, but taking the persecution of the Chinese Catholics in China as their cause, they have good reasons to rail against spoiled Catholics. Many of these lead privileged lives, taking for granted that they can hear Mass without fear of being arrested because of it. They take for granted that there's always a priest in their parish, that they can always see the priest as the need arises. They take their faith for granted so much that they are almost if not outright apologetic about being Catholic. And they get bored. So bored that many of them become creative in their idleness and waste their time rationalizing. Then they become so taken by their own perceived genius and righteousness that they hit upon the idea that the Church should be remade in their own image. Boredom is bad. It's like taking a breather in our faith journey that extends into a permanent vacation. Perhaps it's due to a perceived lack of challenge. Our faith is strongest at times of adversity. A priest once told me that when my life is so easy, then there's reason to worry. Adversity is the forge by which our faith is tempered in steel. Which also explains why Christianity grows/grew in those centuries and places where persecution is/was greatest, e.g., during the persecution of Nero and Diocletian. It also explains why Christianity has declined so badly in Europe. So the next time you're tempted to relax your guard, to say yes when someone whispers to your heart, "why complicate your life?", WAKE UP! As Pope John Paul the Great had said in one of his memoirs: Arise. Let us be on our way!